See the publisher's blurb
Sample pages http://www.slateandshell.com/pdf/ssmr001.pdf.
See reviews by Tamsin Jones and David Carlton.
The ABC's of Attack are:
The ABC's of Defense are:
Velobici: Throughout the first chapters of Michael Redmond's ABC's of Attack and Defense, he uses the initial moves of 4-stone handicap games to illustrate his basic prinicples of attack and defense. His examples are well chosen to bring out these principles in actual play which center around single and double approaches to corner handicap stone. The last chapters focus on 3-stone handicap games and emphasize the concept of miai.
The book is rich in diagrams that flow naturally from on to the other. Each diagram demostrates an application of one or more of the ABC's...the principle being used is explicitly stated and reiterated.
Each time an alternative line of play is introduced, a diagram showing the lead up to the alternative is reproduced...reducing the amount of page-flipping and firmly setting the stage for introducing the variation.
A single reading of the first half of the book resulted in a significant improvement in the severity of my play.
Grauniad: The book should really be called The AB's of Attack and Defense. :-) But I agree that it's a good book.
Tamsin: Interestingly, principles 3 and 4 are the reverse sides of 1 and 2, respectively. This should appeal to those with a philosophical cast of mind (yin and yang and so on).
Michael Redmond provides very well chosen examples to show you how to apply these fundamentals. In one example in the opening chapter, for instance, he shows you how to choose most effectively between three plausible moves (namely, ikken tobi, iron pillar, and diagonal play), bearing in mind the ABCs listed above.
This book contains other very valuable material, especially towards the back, in which you will find simple but effective ways to counter those awkward plays on the 5-3 and 5-4 points.